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2008 Big Muddy Film Festival Competition Films Scroll to Non-Competition Films * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CARTONEROS Cartoneros is a documentary committed to expose the way in which thousands of unemployed workers come daily into the city of Buenos Aires in order to sort and classify the garbage that neighbors leave behind every evening on their doorsteps. WHAT I SEE WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES This short documentary looks at how several of Phnom Penh's 20,000 street kids are being helped by Mith Samlanh/FRIENDS INTERNATIONAL. The children's stories range from the simple wish of a young girl to have enough soap, to the bold dream of a teenage boy to help drug addicts kick their habit and find work. Documentary Feature 1 (John Michaels 2) A SOLDIER'S PEACE A soldier returns home from Iraq, and because of his experiences, immediately begins to protest the war. He attempts a 500-mile peace walk through Utah, his home state, and learns important lessons about apathy, opposition, sacrifice and friendship. Documentary Feature 2 (John Michaels 3) THIRD WARD TX Art, Life, and Real Estate. A guerrilla art-project in inner-city Houston becomes a successful, long-term experiment in public art, housing and personal transformation--Project Row Houses. But their success might seal the fate of the community. Documentary Showcase 2 (John Michales 4) >>> 112 min STANDING SILENT NATION Standing Silent Nation , chronicles the efforts of Alex Plume and his family to develop a sustainable economy on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Because the land is unsuitable for most crops, Alex put his hopes in industrial hemp, a hardy crop with a booming worldwide demand for its many products. CONSIDERING DEMOCRACY: 8 THINGS TO ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE While the U.S. is the most flaunted democracy in the world, how do we compare, and what does the rest of the world think of U.S. domestic and foreign policy? Americans are continually told through their media that freedom and democracy are being given to people abroad, but is it true?? Documentary Showcase 3 (John Michales 5) >>> 142 min GULF WAR SYNDROME The US sent soldiers to Iraq--little did these soldiers know that their own government would inflict greater harm upon them than the enemy--by exposing them to deadly chemicals, depleted uranium and radiation--all causing severe and often irreversible health problems and death while the government denies it all. HOT WIND AMERICA'S FALLOUT CASUALTIES Hot Wind: America's Fallout Casualties relives the period of the nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site as experienced by downwinders from Parowan, Utah. Documentary Showcase 4 >>> 146 min AIDS INC What if everything we've been told about AIDS is wrong? What if HIV is not the virus that causes AIDS? That the HIV antibody test were completely flawed? That the drugs given for it cause symptoms indistinguishable from AIDS? That many of the people working in the field of AIDS are self serving opportunists? That AIDS is the most popular, profitable disease ever? That tens of thousands of scientists and foundations are lining up to feed at this endless through? That tere has been complete and total suppression of the dissident voices? That even gay activists who have spoken out against the flawed war on AIDS have been ostracized? THE FACE OF AIDS 'The Face of AIDS' shines a light on the stigma and discrimination suffered by women living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The film follows the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School during the final weeks of a year-long study on how HIV/AIDS impacts Malawian women's lives. Documentary Showcase 5 >>> 99 min MY AMERICAN NEIGHBOR 'My American Neighbor' is a look at America and its dream from a distance. Filmmaker travels to Russia, France, Italy, Greece and Egypt to interview Americans who live there and reflect on the importance of distance in one's understanding of homeland. MADE IN CHINA Filmmaker John Helde sets out to understand his father Tom's remarkable childhood as a white American growing up in 1930's China. Navigating his father's reticence, he tracks down Tom's China-born peers, a unique community of Americans who grew up with a foot in two cultures. Documentary Showcase 6 >>> 116 min THE PERFECT COW The Perfect Cow is a comedic documentary about show cows, dairy farmers, and Benji: a 24 year old multi-millionaire cow trader. THE ORGANIC OPPORTUNITY 'The Organic Opportunity' tells the story of how one Iowa county transformed its economy through the adoption of small farm organic local food production as economic development, Woodbury County, Iowa's first-in-the-nation programs promoting organic transition, organic purchasing, and organic farming opportunities for new farmers offers a model for counties and communities everywhere. RANDOM LUNACY Mainstream America might regard the family group of buskers who called themselves 'The Flying Neutrinos' as homeless. But they preferred to think of themselves as homeless by CHOICE. Documentary Showcase 7 >>> 100 min HUMAN SCALE Two twentysomething friends try to survive the instability of early adulthood while battling serious bipolar disorder. ONE IN 2000 Each year an estimated one in two thousand babies are born with anatomy that doesn't clearly mark them as either male or female. This provocative documentary demystifies the issue through intimate and sympathetic profiles of people born with intersex conditions who are living 'ordinary' and productive lives. GUITAR HOLIDAY Guitar Holiday is a colorful, vibrant documentary portrait of the guitar makers of Paracho, Michoacan, and the beautiful town that relies upon the guitar for its livelihood. Dozes of guitar shops line the main plaza and side streets of Paracho, where you can buy a guitar from the person who made it. Documentary Showcase 8 >>> 94 min HOW IT IS WITH PHOOIE A personal look at the director's father, Phil 'Phooie' Steinberg, a 35-year veteran of the music industry, who's life-long obsessions include music and the movies, and very little else. SEWING AMERICAN DREAM A man living in a little town in Illinois has repaired shoes for 30 years since he immigrated to the US from Korea. Sticking in a tiny shop, he corresponds with old shoes. This films focuses on hands of the artisan and crumpled shoes instead of making direct statement of social issues. Documentary Showcase 9 >>> 141 min NOT BROKEN People share their experiences of one of the worst Hurricanes to strike the US. In the aftermath, some faced gross governmental incompetence, crime, racism and religious bigotry. Their faith, however,whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or agnostic,was a reservoir of strength, not only for their survival, but in also aiding others. EXPERIMENTAL CONVERSATIONS Nicole Brenez, Jackie Raynal, Phillippe Grandrieux and others explore some major concepts and practices in contemporary experimental filmmaking. Documentary Showcase 10 >>> 102 min C RED BLUE J An experimental documentary feature that uses the director Christopher Sollars' family including: his sister Jennifer who works for the Bush Administration, Fred his Born Again father, and Karen his Lesbian mother to illustrate the complications of division during the 2004 Presidential election. STAND STAND Up, Out and For a new way of thinking about sustainability. STAND Up by using your creativity to raise awareness and inspire others to do the same. STAND Out and play in the outdoors and use your passion for the outdoors to influence change. STAND For engaging with causes that make a positive difference with the environment. THE GREAT TRAIN WRECK OF CRUSH TEXAS Historical account of first train wreck staged as a publicity stunt. Documentary Showcase 11 >>> 92 min ALCATRAZ REUNION America's most notorious prison is hosting an alumni reunion, inviting every ex-inmate, and their former cellhouse guards, back to the Rock. Against the backdrop of these colorful characters and their strange rendezvous, 'Alcatraz Reunion' traces the history of the iconic island, and its mysterious transformation from legendary penitentiary to tourist mecca. 99 TO 1: OVARIAN CANCER AND ME In the summer of 2005 the doctors said they were 99% sure filmmaker Phoebe Brown did not have ovarian cancer. She turned out to be the 1%. This is her story. Documentary Showcase 12 >>> 115 min STILL LONGSHOTS Street youth in a video workshop meet former street kids who went through a similar program a decade earlier. THE BIG QUESTION A troubled man bursts into your child's schoolhouse. Without warning, he chases out all the boys and lines the girls up. Then he begins to shoot them one by one. For decades your people's backs have been broken by the oppressive yoke of Apartheid. Suddenly, the tables are turned and you and your friends are in power. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NARRATIVES * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Narrative Shorts Showcase 1 <<< 87 min THE EXECUTION OF SOLOMON HARRIS When protocol and routine fail to resolve a malfunction during an electric chair execution, responsibility falls into the hands of the Warden. DAMN THE PAST! Mario Lee is an auto mechanic who can sing but can't talk. After being laughed at his entire life, he resigns himself to "passing" as a mute, leading a quiet, lonely existence fixing cars. ALIBI INC Clement Marceau founded Alibi Inc. with his friend and colleague Joel Fontaine ten years ago. One day, however, Clement catches his colleague using the business for his own means; he is covering up a liaison with a female customer. Worst of all, he didn't consolidate their alibis. EMPATHY A woman who is frustrated with her marriage decides to leave her husband, a lawyer, following a traumatic attack on her. In the morning of his most important case, he finds himself alone with their physically and mentally disabled son. A Russian immigrant loses his job and has his car stolen on the same day. A young woman accidentally finds herself in a difficult situation and faces a moral dilemma. An Arab man, whose daughter has been severely wounded in a car accident, deals with mental and financial difficulties in paying for medical treatment. * There is graphic disturbance in some films. Viewer's discretion is advised. Narrative Shorts Showcase 2 <<< 75 min L'ORO ROSSO Erika, who ran away from Romania some years earlier, lives her life as an ordinary housewife in one of the richest and most conflicting countryside areas of southern Italy, Apulia. But her past life is not the past life of an ordinary housewife. THE DOUBLE Meet Steven Roberts (Eric Roberts), a self-assured psychologist concerned less with his family and more with the promotion of his new book, the ironically-titled 'Deepening Our Connection to Others.' FORGOTTEN FRAMES How an assassinated inventor became the forgotten father of cinema. CLOUDED BILLY CUFF It's 1944 and there's a war on. Joining the fight may be just what he needs to escape isolation. Narrative Shorts Showcase 3 <<< 78 min SO LONG What would you do with an empty apartment, an ocean of alcohol, and one night of freedom left before shipping off to the most dangerous place on earth? COONS An innocent joyride is not all it seems when Rich discovers that his brother and a friend have kidnapped a black teen and thrown him in the back of their truck. THE JOB The immigration debate just got a little funnier. MAINE STORY When her high-school sweetheart unexpectedly returns to town, Shelly is forced to confront those things she's been avoiding, including her 12 year-old son. THE SEED SUNG (Will Yun Lee) is a homeless veteran losing his mind on the banks of the L.A. River. Pursued by unseen forces, fighting unseen foes, Sung is ostensibly 'just another lunatic.' But as his invisible war continues, under bridges and in tunnels, we are taken deeper and deeper into Sung's nightmare mind. Narrative Shorts Showcase 4 <<< 79 min ENGLISH LANGUAGE (With English Subtitles) A tenderly offbeat comedy about love and communication... or the lack thereof. Meet Mulligan (a typically English man), Esther (his Scandinavian girlfriend), and the on-screen subtitles that find themselves along for the ride.? PLAINVIEW Inspired by true events, Plainview is the story of Missy, a small town restaurant manager in charge of Brian, her simple minded, yet endearing employee who's painfully aware of the in-competency that cause his register drawer to come up short. STILL BIRTH CHICKEN A starving artist struggles to not eat the subject of his still life painting. FOR A FEW MARBLES MORE Four ten-year olds are kicked out of their favorite playground by two aggressive drunkards. When they realize their parents are not going to help them, there's only one solution. They have to find a way to get the toughest boy in the neighborhood to help them. ANYBODY Two strangers wake up in bed together. What begins as an awkward morning-after conversation becomes something more, as two New Yorkers navigate the post-9/11 emotional landscape. Narrative Showcase 5 COMMIT Two strangers meet at a coffee shop for what seems like a blind date. But as the conversation progresses, it becomes clear that this couple, who have never seen each other face to face and who met on the Internet, have actually formed a suicide pact. Problems arise when the couple realizes that they may have finally found something worth living for. Narrative Showcase 6 <<< 112 min INVISIBLE At a vulnerable point in her family life, Hannah acts out a reverie of fantasy and mischief to fill the widening void between her and her father. Her transition from child to adulthood comes with a selfless and cathartic act that snatches her father back from the edge of collapse. DARKROOM Darkroom is a psychological thriller that illustrates the events of a man, David, and his wife, Coy, who develop film for the Salt Lake Police Department. The horrifying crime scene photos weigh heavily on their morale and cause a constant state of melancholy in their lives. While Coy suffers from the complications of getting pregnant, David experiences a dangerous disconnect from reality. Narrative Showcase 7 MY WAY My way is an intimist drama, with doses of a thriller, that tells the story of Marco (Ariel Casas), a small-time drug dealer who wants to quit the profession and lead a normal life with his wife (Silvia Marso), his daughter (Susana Fawaz) and his brother (Jaume Garcia Arija). But, after the death of his mother (Asuncion Balaguer), he discovers that his father (Joan Dalmau), who he hasn't seen in years, has Alzheimer's, and he decides to take him home. Narrative Showcase 8 LEAVE ME BEHIND Christian Keller, a 21 year old husband and father, is about to leave for Iraq. In the next three days he is forced to question everything he has come believe while trying to say goodbye to his friends and family. For more information please visit: www.leavemebehindmovie.com Narrative Showcase 9 MAY THE BEST MAN WIN (The film has pulled out from the competition, Narrative Feature 5, "Commit," will be shown instead) Narrative Showcase 10 INSIDE THE HANDY WRITER'S COLONY The Handy Writers' Colony and its quixotic leader, Lowney Handy, provided a refuge for would-be writers throughout the 1950s. Lowney was both mistress and mentor to the colony's charter member, James Jones, whose break out novel, From Here to Eternity, was a publishing sensation. Together they came to believe that she could turn anyone into a great author. Narrative Showcase 11 WAR EAGLE War Eagle is a character-driven drama about a young man's choice of whether to leave his family and friends for a career in baseball or stay and redeem his struggling community. The story takes place over a few pivotal weeks in the summer after Enoch Cass's senior year, and is set against the backdrop of Arkansas' beautiful Ozark Mountains. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5 CENTS A PEEK A filmic interpretation of a poem by Sharon Olds wherein the circus becomes a metaphor for a woman?s performance in, and for, the world. The film incorporates animation, archival circus footage and distortions of the female form to explore ideas of performance, spectatorship and the male gaze. OFFICE MOBIUS An abstract story demonstrating the relationships of people working in generic whose behavior is confined to an infinite reiteration in time in a circular and seamless mobius strip series of actions. DROP The aesthetic journey of a drop of water- animation sound and image are combined to create a zen-like exploration of fluidity and nature. BARS + TONE SMPTE Color bars and a 1kHz test tone morph continuously into the image and sound of a beach sunset?a conceptually simple transformation which provides a site for consideration of numerous dualities. AGNIESZKA 2039 Joy and pain go hand in hand when an angelic being is delivered the box of eternity and subjected to the fateful decision of the gods. Please see www.agnieszka2039.com for more information. Direct link to the trailer. LAS MUJERES DE PINOCHET Revisiting Chile's past, juxtaposing the differences. GODS OF LIGHT, IDOLS OF MUD Three individuals in the modern world are driven to escape their lives and act out. THE END OF MY ENCHILADA When the filmmaker films a naval ship in Portsmouth, Virginia, she finds herself under surveillance in a Mexican restaurant. A police officer arrives at her table with a form for Homeland Security, and every waiter vanishes, possibly because of illegal immigration law. Did the officer wait until she was through with her lunch to do the interview? Experimental Showcase 2 <<< 64 min BLOOD OF THE EARTHWORM A frightening, educational look into humanity's new web-of-life, the consumers are the consumed. MIDWESTERN COMPOSITION Midwestern scenes. PASSAGE Passage reflects on the peripheral. An inquiry into memory, landscape, and departure, this work visually catches sight of experience, as it moves past. In this work, the artists create a layered encounter with streams of imagery and sound. LI! THE PATTERNS OF NATURE "Li" is a Chinese word that refers to the underlying intelligence and order of nature as reflected in its organic forms. FRACAS The strong juxtaposition of children's school photos against anxious voices of an elementary spelling bee, reveal a haunting reality of lost innocence in this experimental documentary. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Animation Showcase <<< 96 min MERMAID Told with cut-out and sand animation, 'Mermaid' is the story of Carl and Doris, the darlings of marine biology whose marriage becomes strained under the weight of the giant squid. While Doris makes weak attempts to rekindle the flame, Carl pines away for that most elusive of sea creatures. a film resplendent with love, betrayal, and crustaceans. STREETCAR NAMED PERSPIRE A roller coaster ride through a certain phase in a woman's life. Digitally drawn with flash. EVERYTHING WILL BE OK A series of dark and troubling events forces bill to reckon with the meaning of his life ? or lack thereof. SENSORIUM A hand-drawn experimental animation exploring the relationship between music and image, inspired by dance gestures and movements found in nature (water, tide pools). WOLFIE THE PIANIST Wolfie the Pianist. All alone. One fine day, He receives a letter: "Dear Wolfie, Please let us hear you play piano." Wolfie begins an journey through deserts carrying his piano with only aim of finding the sender. SIMULACRA In the Vast universe, there's one robot planet which overthing in that planet is machine and robot.One day, one robot found that there's one organic life exist in his world. Then, He decide to get that piece. ATLANTIS UNBOUND Atlantis Unbound is loosely contrived from the utopian novel written by Francis Bacon called The New Atlantis. Bacon sets the store for the main character Francis Galton to ponder the secrets of hereditary science. RACCOON AND CRAWFISH A hungry raccoon searches for food and finds a crawfish on a quest for glory. Their battle will decide the fate between an ego full of pride or a belly full of food. A PAINFUL GLIMPSE INTO MY WRITING PROCESS (In Less Than 60 Seconds). A darkly satirical tour de force about the writing process. This extremely short film is told with animated images straight from the subconscious, or somewhere. TRICKSTER MYTH An American Indian Mytholology. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Special Feature #1
Special Feature #2 EASY RIDER (1969) Special Feature #3 >>> Animation . Special Feature #4 >>> Children's Film
Special Feature #5 TURTLES CAN FLY (Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand, 2004) ''Turtles Can Fly takes place at childhood's end. Bahman Ghobadi's relentless, bleakly funny, thoroughly remarkable drama is set in Iraq, near the Turkish border, in a small Kurdish village that has been so swamped by a refugee camp that it's no longer possible to tell who ''belongs" and who is of the dispossessed. The air is crystalline, the surrounding mountains intensely beautiful, and the humans are small, pathetic figures in the landscape. What appear to be villagers tilling a field become, on closer inspection, children searching for land mines. They dig them up and sell them for food. Ghobadi shows us a world where a village pond can hold both rare goldfish and unforgivable evil, and where every step is onto booby-trapped terrain." Special Feature #6 >>> Homage to Michelangelo Antonioni (1912 - 2007) L’AVVENTURA (1960) "The controversial, highly charged 1960 masterpiece that put Michelangelo Antonioni's name on the international map. It's a work that requires some patience--a 145-minute mystery that strategically elides any conventional denouement--but more than amply repays the effort. The ambiguous title adventure begins on a luxury pleasure cruise. The disconsolate girlfriend (Lea Special Feature #7 >>> Homage to Ingmar Bergman (1918 - 2007) THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY (1961) |
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